Bajaj pins hopes on Platina, CT 100 in rural markets

Eric says sale of bikes dived 22% in Feb

Bajaj Auto plans to boost its motorcycle sales in the next financial year in the rural market with its two recent products — the Platina Electric Start and the CT 100.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Eric Vas, President (Motorcycle Business), Bajaj Auto, said that it was the 100 cc bikes that were not doing well in the rural market, but the company’s Pulsars were doing perfectly well.

He said that there were a set of customers in the rural market who were not buying bikes the way they used to. He added there were many reasons for it, but could not comment on the same since he was not an economist.

“But, yes, there has been a slowdown. We are taking action on that. We launched two new products. And we actually believe that we will gain market share on that end of the market,” Vas added. He said there was a 22 per cent decline in the motorcycle sales in the month of February.

While Platina Electric Start was launched earlier this month, CT 100 was relaunched in February.

The ex-showroom price of Platina Electric Start in Karnataka is Rs 45,331, and of the CT 100 is Rs 38,702. Mumbai-based automobile analyst Piyush Jain said that in the past few months, the market share of both Bajaj and Hero have declined, while Honda’s has gone up.

“Bajaj will face tough competition from Honda, given the present circumstances. They might be able to raise their market share by a small value as the percentage share of their 100 cc bikes start from a lower base.

Honda is also launching multiple models in different segments, making it all the more tough,” Jain added. On the production of the newly launched Pulsar RS 200, Vas said that for now, the ratio of manufacturing the anti-lock brake system (ABS) version and the non-ABS version would be 50:50. “In future, we might manufacture either one of the two only, but production will be limited every month,” he added.

On the target audience, he said, “A buyer of this bike would be young, normally a male, looks at a set of international brands, consumes technology and digital media frequently. He would tend to be in the age-bracket of 18 plus, right up to 30.” He said the profile would fit regardless of the urban or rural setting.